Cancer related fatigue (CRF) is very common. I had just no idea how long I would suffer from fatigue after my treatment had finished. Fatigue can often be confused with tiredness, but there are differences between the two conditions.

Tiredness happens to everyone, especially after certain activities or chemotherapy however, fatigue is less common and is an excessive whole-body tiredness that is not relieved with sleep. This debilitating condition can impact your quality of life. It certainly impacts upon mine. I am still unable to walk for the kind of distances I did previously and only do half a line dancing class instead of a full one. My 18 weeks of chemotherapy ended almost 10 months ago.

Fatigue can be acute (lasting a month or less) or chronic (lasting from one month to six months or longer). Mine is clearly chronic. The precise reason for this intensive tiredness is unknown, but practitioners believe it may be related to the process of cancer itself or chemotherapies and radiation treatments. Although CRF is one of the most common side effects of cancer and its associated treatments, nobody told me about it or warned me I might suffer from it. Therefore, I thought I was just being lazy and not pulling myself together properly. I was quite wrong.

Usually it comes on suddenly, and does not result from activity or exertion. Although in my case exertion makes it worse. The fatigue is often described as “paralyzing.” It may continue for months, even after treatment is complete.

If you are a cancer survivor and feeling tired or fatigued even long after your treatment is finished, you must know you are not alone.

About one-third of breast cancer survivors experience CRF for periods of time ranging anywhere from a year to several years post-treatment. While there is no conventional therapy to resolve it, studies are increasingly showing yoga and other gentle exercises can help. Some patients with different cancers report relief with exercise.